Not long ago, it would have been hard to find much outrage in the Capitol over the state shelling out $125,000 to give away teddy bears at the DMV. Or $266,000 for lawmaker lunches and dinners. Or $800,000 to house four sexual predators in the Inland Empire. Not any more. Sacramento is undergoing an attitude adjustment. Once dismissive of rooting around for nickels and dimes, state legislators are overturning as many Capitol cushions as they can in a hunt for spare change.

Los Angeles Police Det. Scot Williams sat down last year to connect the dots. His goal? To make sense of the bloodshed in his South Los Angeles division. At first, his efforts to link seemingly unrelated cases by examining ballistics and witness reports yielded a striking result: Many of the 77th's worst violent crimes in the last year seemed to be the handiwork of a single cell of killers sharing the same stash of guns.

He's been shot. He's been stabbed. He's been locked up -- most recently on New Year's Eve. For rap music fans, that only adds to the allure of 50 Cent. Popular on the club scene for years, the 26-year-old native of Queens is aiming for the big time with the release next month of his first commercial album. For many in the music industry, "Get Rich or Die Trying" is one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of the year.

I stepped from the marble whirlpool bath, padded across the marble floor and entered the marble shower. I sat on the marble bench as water fell from a shower head the size of a Frisbee. The press of a button summoned clouds of hot, soothing vapor from a steam nozzle. Had I not already excused the butler, he could have defogged the glass door, allowing me a clear view of the NBA playoffs on the TV sitting between the twin sinks.

Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Ka-ching. At least one company is cashing in on the impending arrival of Europe's common currency--the continent's biggest manufacturer of cash register tills, which have to be replaced when the euro becomes legal tender in 12 countries of the European Union next January.

People at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes can reduce their chances of getting the disease by 58% if they lose as little as 10 pounds, exercise and follow a healthy diet, according to a report released today. The report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, dramatically underscores the benefits of lifestyle changes in fighting the chronic disease, which is increasingly prevalent nationwide and especially in parts of Southern California.

What are the four most expensive words in the English language? "While you're at it," says Kermit Baker, director of the remodeling futures program at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Just ask Steve and Linda Velasco of Costa Mesa. They started out figuring thatthey'd replace some flooring--a minor remodel that was set to cost them less than $10,000.

Some people might not have given a nickel for Moorpark College's chances of beating Canyons in their Western State Conference football game Saturday. Coach Jim Bittner and defensive coordinator Marcus Turner figured a nickel was exactly what the Raiders needed to stop Canyons' explosive passing game. "We played the nickel [defense] the whole game," Bittner said.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, hidden away in Holy Land caves 2,000 years ago and unearthed after World War II, are often rated the 20th century's greatest archeological find. The chief reason for most people: the rediscovery of 230 texts of biblical books, which have begun to change details in the Scriptures read by millions. For instance? The height of Goliath.